1984 purple cap Tourmaline w/ Morganites (Ordway Coll.)

Item Description

A major, juicy, multicolored, purple cap tourmaline crystal with RARE associations from a small 1984 pocket here called the "Six-Pack Pocket" after the major piece within it. The glassy, gemmy to opaque crystal shows its five layers of color wonderfully with only a minimum of backlighting needed: the frosted termination is purple; a pretty teal-blue zone is next; followed by a wider soft baby-pink; a thin, irregular teal-blue layer; with opaque schorl encased in a soft baby-pink rind at the base. The backlit photos glow with the colors. One side is wonderfully complimented by the large field of scintillating, translucent, lilac lepidolite crystals AND three rare, gorgeous, gem pink morganite to 1.5 cm! Complete all-around. The termination has a modest bit of edge wear. There are two clean repairs to the crystal and two apparent areas of adjacent excellent restoration. FEW of these exist to be had, the entire pocket having been hoarded by the collector at the time and only recently released at the Tucson 2011 show (sadly after his death, released by his family). MUCH, MUCH BETTER IN PERSON! Difficult to photograph due to the contrasting colors. Valued at $2500-3000. Another major spiker for this auction. Happy Holidays!